A Tree Nymph's Revenge
by Crickett9
Summary: Today I learned how a tree nymph gets his revenge, and believe me, it is not pretty. Percy's POV


**A/N: This one-shot takes place after TLO, while Percy and Annabeth are still at Camp for the summer. Also, it would be great if you could take Percy's invulnerability out of the picture, just for the story. If he was invulnerable, it probably wouldn't make sense. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Believe me, Rick Riordan looks nothing like me. (Especially since we aren't even the same gender.)**

I was running, as fast and hard as I could. Chiron was nice enough to let me retest on the running portion of our Camp report cards. When I took the test with everyone else, I came in last and scored a D. This time I was running the half-mile course by myself, with Annabeth cheering me on from the sidelines.

The finish line was in sight, and I felt good about the pace I had kept. Just as I was about to cross, I rammed head into what looked like a tree (though I couldn't exactly tell, because it seemed to come out of nowhere.) _The tree_ _nymphs. _They must have still been mad at me for that one time when I kicked a few trees because I was really angry… Juniper forgave me, of course- but none of the others did. I could hear running footsteps coming closer and Annabeth shouting as I hit the ground. My last thought was to curse the stupid tree nymph who gave me that unwanted revenge, and then I was out cold.

When I woke up, there was an angel leaning over me. One with long curly blond tresses and stormy grey eyes.

"Seaweed Brain! You're up!"

I grinned and nodded my head, but then regretted it. My brain felt like someone had thrown a brick at it. Annabeth's expression turned from excited to worried.

"Are you okay? I could get you some more ambrosia and nectar- your last dose was a while ago, so it should be okay for you to have some more."

I took a deep breath and answered her. "No, I'm fine. My head just hurts a little. It'll go away soon"

She smiled "Same old stubborn Seaweed Brain."

There was a knock on the door- I could tell by the small bedroom and warm furnishings that I was in the Big House. Chiron entered, carrying a small tray. A delicious smell seemed to envelop the room, and I was promptly reminded how hungry I was.

Chiron laid the tray on the bedside table and turned to face me.

"Percy, my boy you're up! Wonderful! You had quite a collision and we were all concerned."

I laughed, ignoring the pain it brought on. "Yeah, stuff like this happens to me a lot. It seems like _countless _people have me on there list of others that deserve revenge- or at least countless creatures- like tree nymphs."

Chiron and Annabeth laughed. Then, to my relief, Chiron handed me the tray, and I practically vacuumed my plate. I ate so fast, I barely knew what was entering my mouth. It could have been fried earth worms, for all I cared.

"Thanks Chiron. That was great."

"You're welcome, Percy. You should rest now. There is a game of Capture the Flag planned for tomorrow evening, and I am sure you want to participate in that."

Chiron smiled, grabbed the tray, and shut the door behind him as he left.

I turned to Annabeth. The worried look in her eyes had gone away, or maybe she was just masking it really well. She turned to me.

"Chiron was right. You scared us all, especially me."

I grimaced. It killed me to worry Annabeth.

"How long was I out?"

She turned away. "About 6 hours. You took a pretty hard spill."

"Wow. It didn't feel that long."

She managed a wry smile. Then another question came to mind.

"What about that tree nymph?"

"You mean the one that almost killed you? Oh, I took care of him." There was a mischievous glint that struck her stormy eyes.

"Who was he, anyway?"

"Juniper's cousin, Fern." I couldn't help snickering. From what I knew, "Fern" was pretty much a girl's name.

Annabeth continued. "Apparently, you did not pay proper respect to his tree. What _did_ you do, anyway?"

I could feel my cheeks color.

"Um, well, you see, I've tripped over quite a few roots those stupid trees leave lying around."

She laughed. "Lying around?"

I blushed even redder. "How do I explain it? Well, just kinda sticking out of the ground, in the path of innocent pedestrians. They're especially harmful to uncoordinated pedestrians. Like me."

Laughing even harder, Annabeth nodded. "I see what you mean."

I waited for her to stop laughing before I continued.

"So, after I had tripped for the hundredth time over one of these pesky roots, I was really ticked off, so I kicked trees that I tripped over. I had hoped to just send them a message like 'Hey dude! Trying to walk here- could you move you roots that keep getting in the way?' I swear they were out to get me. It seemed like after that, I tripped over even more of the trees. I guess Fern was elected to teach me a lesson about tree respect."

She was silent, taking in my explanation. Then, she burst out into a fit of laughter even harder than before. Tears ran out of the corners of her eyes.

"Gods, Percy, you can be so _dense_ sometimes!"

"What'd I do?"

She controlled her laughter just long enough to answer me.

"Those nymphs were just provoking you. They probably figured out that you get angry easily at stuff like that. Every time you tripped, they were probably laughing their branches off. They most likely even thought it was still funny when you started kicking them. Until it began to actually hurt. That's when they probably became angry."

She continued laughing, while I found it hard to find humor in the situation. We talked for a while longer- really about nothing in particular. To my dismay, my eyelids started to droop, and Annabeth decided I should get some rest. I protested, but she ignored me.

"Seaweed Brain, you were knocked out by a tree, unconscious for 6 hours, probably have a killer headache, and you can seriously look me in the eyes and tell me you're not tired?"

"Well, I guess I am a _little _tired."

She smiled. Just as she was about to leave the room, she turned around and ran back to my bedside. Leaning in, Annabeth kissed me, and suddenly the only thing I was aware of was how close to me she was and how her hair smelled like lemon- one of my favorite scents.

"Sleep well, Percy."

She shut the door softly behind her, and I was asleep within 5 minutes. It was some of the best sleep I had had in a long time.


End file.
